


Close Behind

by kihyukie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kissing, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, but like its a reincarnation au so it doesnt stick yknow?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23999353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kihyukie/pseuds/kihyukie
Summary: it starts like most things do: with a boy brighter than the stars and another who lives by them.it’s then that jeno decides if love is anything like this (interesting enough to make his days pass faster, strong enough to fill him with a new sense of purpose, bright enough to make the sun more dazzling and the stars more vibrant), then maybe love was worth it.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 8
Kudos: 42





	Close Behind

**Author's Note:**

> hi im back on my noren soulmates bullshit...let's go!
> 
> also this is unbeta'd n its 4 in the morning so....sorry for any mistakes

it’s too late, jeno realizes.  _ he’s _ too late. 

so this time, when the world ends, he lets it. 

click. rewind. 

it starts like most things do: with a boy brighter than the stars and another who lives by them. 

jeno is twelve when he’s brought to the castle by order of the king. 

he still remembers his mother's strange behaviour that night - brushing his hair like she had when he was a child, cooking his favorite meal not knowing where she got the money to afford meat. jeno brushing it aside as nothing more than his mind playing tricks on him as someone raised overly paranoid. 

he remembers the pounding on the door in the early hours of the morning and the thunder of boots across the floor. he remembers the cuffs over his hands, suffocating him into normalcy. he remembers the whispers between the men, how he was  _ dangerous, not to be trusted, to be treated with extreme caution.  _ he remembers how bright the stars were. 

although, the glint of gold coins in his mother's grasp were brighter. 

jeno waits weeks to find out why he had been taken from his home - not that he ever dare call it that. it’s suffocating walls and damp air never spared jeno any comfort. 

jeno takes seconds to fall in love. 

from the moment he’s pulled from the cellar and his eyes land on the boy in front of him everything clicks into place. there was a piece of jeno missing, the light to his dark, and it’s standing right in front of him. 

the boy - the  _ prince _ \- jeno learns, will become the kingdoms most influential ruler when the time comes. this fact would puzzle jeno, for the boy is much smaller than him, if not for the blinding brightness the boy brings with him when he moves, filling whatever room he’s in like a glove and curling into jenos lungs. 

jeno is assigned to keep him alive - from the sounds of it he is not the first tasked with the job, although the walls in the castle whisper they hope he will be the last. for if jeno is not able to protect the boy, then who can? 

and so he does. 

jeno grows into his magic, surpassing his teachers knowledge before the end of the year, having to discovering new skills on his own and he gets it now. why he was taken. why he was  _ chosen _ . 

if renjun is to be the most powerful king of their time, jeno is to be the most powerful mage of their time. it’s written in the stars. 

“do you swear to protect me and to stay by my side? to lay your life down for mine if necessary?” renjun asks jeno when he is sworn in as king. the crown looks like a halo around his head and jeno thinks he’s never looked more ethereal. 

“i do,” jeno answers without hesitation. 

from then on his days are renjuns. 

they spend every waking and sleeping moment together, from when the sunlight pries open their eyes in the morning until jeno falls asleep tracing the familiar shape of renjun next to him. he follows renjun to his lessons where he spends more time studying the delicate bone structure of renjuns face than the latest updates in the kingdom and trains with him until their limbs are jello and jeno cant get oxygen into his lungs fast enough and their cheeks are flushed and renjun is looking at him and jeno can’t stop  _ grinning _ . 

it’s the evenings that are jenos favourite. when they can lay under the safety of the ceiling, under the stars that jeno knows are out there, but it’s all so insignificant because the brightest one is next to him. safe. in moments like these jeno can practically breathe in the warmth radiating from renjun until it’s fused with his blood, in every cell of his being, like it’s the only thing keeping him going. 

renjun’s lips are honey sweet under his, his laugh the richest music jeno has ever heard, his smile beautiful enough to go to war for. it’s all so intoxicating and overwhelming, but there’s never a doubt in either of their minds that this is _it_ , they're meant to be. 

it’s love jeno will come to know. and who needs magic when love burns this bright? 

they’re nineteen, young, way too young, yet wise beyond both their years when it comes to an end.

jeno feels the pull first, feels his magic get sucked out of the air too quick for him to react. it’s a familiar, uncomfortable feeling that makes jeno’s heart stop when he realizes what it means. there’s a sharp pain blooming in his chest and jeno doesn’t keep his eyes open long enough to learn what happens after.

click. play. 

jeno can’t help but shake the feeling he knows the boy on stage. the one with a guitar in his hands and a microphone in front of him. he’s only a backup singer, but jeno swears his voice stands out louder than the others, swears he  _ knows _ it. 

the lights in the bar are dim enough that this boy has the possibility to be anyone in the world, but there’s something about the way his eyes flick around the room, restless, searching, that call out to jeno. there’s a certain warmth to them that jeno thinks he could easily become addicted to given the chance. 

for a split second he debates staying until after the band’s performance. maybe he could get a moment alone with the boy, get to know him. to be  _ known _ in return. 

the thought is quickly swallowed up when someone else tugs at jeno’s elbow. he turns to see a wide smile, far too many teeth, and mischievous eyes. 

“wanna dance?”

jeno nods with slight hesitation and the moment passes. 

click. fast forward. 

“say it again,” the man pouts and jenos heart melts a little bit more. 

“i love you, haung renjun, more than anything else on this earth.” 

the words tumble out like they never belonged to jeno in the first place, not that he minds. he would spend every waking minute praising renjun if the other asked him to. fuck it, jeno would be happy to do it regardless - there was nobody that deserved it more. 

beside him, renjun hums happily, tucking himself under jeno’s chin and turning his attention back to the television. he takes jeno’s hand in his own and jeno doesn’t miss the way that the reflection from the screen flicks off the ring on renjun’s finger, loving its light. 

“y’know, sometimes i think i was put on this earth just to love you.” jeno continue on fiddling with renjun’s ring - a familiar, comforting warmth floods his chest and keeps rising until he feels lightheaded from it. jeno smiles, giddy with happiness.

“sap,” renjun teases, but jeno can feel the way he smiles as he ducks his head into the youngers chest, pressing a kiss to his heart over his shirt. 

“can you blame me?” 

jeno loves the cold feeling of renjun’s ring against his skin. knowing it mirrors him own is enough to ground jeno when he needs it, when his worries crawl out from the dark corner they live in, slithering through his veins. but it’s ok, everything will be ok because jeno has renjun and renjun has jeno. “i think maybe our souls were made for each other.”

renjun is silent for a moment and jeno finds himself holding his breath. did he say too much? overstep some unspoken line? it’s not like he has never said things like that before, being as he was definitely the more cheesy one of the pair. 

jeno is about to speak up again, to cover his ass with whatever words he blurts out first, but renjun beats him to it, “if that’s the case, then i hope i get to know you in every lifetime.”

click. play. 

“jen- jeno, baby, come back please. fuck. won’t you listen? can’t we work this out?”

jeno doesn’t turn around.

click. rewind. 

it’s funny jeno thinks - his fascination with the human boy. there’s no reason he should have stood out enough to catch jeno’s eye in particular. how was he different from any other human? what was so special about him that made jeno drawn to his every move?

maybe jeno was just bored. yes. that was probably it. 

bored of the clouds, bored of the stagnant beauty, bored of routine. bored of  _ waiting _ . 

the boy jeno watches is anything but boring. he seems to be ever-moving, always something to do - someone to help, homework to be done, a shift to be picked up. there also seems to always be something on his mind if the sleepless nights are anything to go by.

jeno wonders what makes him so restless, if he ever tires of the search. is it the need to prove himself? the need to leave behind a legacy? the need to fill the void in his life? the fear of failure? love? money? 

he laughs at the thought. after all, they’re all such simple human worries. 

given the chance, jeno would take all the boy’s worries away. jeno isn’t sure why, but he feels the need to care for the human - to make sure he gets enough rest and eats proper meals and reduces his stress levels so he won’t die by the young age of forty. 

is this love? jeno has never experienced such a mortal desire.

it’s then that jeno decides if love is anything like this (interesting enough to make his days pass faster, strong enough to fill him with a new sense of purpose, bright enough to make the sun more dazzling and the stars more vibrant), then maybe love was worth it. 

click. fastforward. 

“we shouldn’t be doing this.”

renjun ignores his own warning, walking until he has jeno pressed up against the wall, until they’re chest to chest, until the taller is at his mercy. the flush on his cheeks is addicting, jeno thinks. its hard to tell if its from the fight minutes before or knowing what’s to come, but it has jeno feeling dizzy. 

maybe that was just from the fight too - the last of his powers fizzling out; the leftover cosmic energy bubbling under his skin.

jeno smirks as his hands land on renjun’s hips, gripping hard enough to ground himself and loving the way renjun’s breath stutters at his touch. without missing another beat, jeno leans forward aiming to capture renjun’s lips with his own, but stopping just close enough to feel their lips brush. “and? you shouldn’t be killing innocent people.”

stars explode behind jeno’s eyes as renjun surges forward with a stinging kiss, all teeth and tongue. jeno moans into it, knowing that renjun is all too happy to swallow it down. not wasting any time, he slips a hand under the shorter boys shirt to run his nails over the sensitive skin under it. 

“you know better than anyone that it isn’t up to me.” renjun huffs when he breaks away from the kiss like it’s the silliest thing jeno could have suggested and really, it  _ is _ . they both know who they are and where they stand. where their loyalties have to lie. 

without disconnecting their mouths again, jeno pushes lightly at renjun’s shoulders, urging him in the direction of the couch. a sliver of his power leaks out, shocking renjun, but the boy seems too distracted at getting jeno’s shirt off to notice anything happening to him. jeno on the other hand, can feel how icey renjun’s hands are as they drag across his stomach, causing an intense shiver, his eyes roll back. it’s dangerous, he knows, but oh so addicting. 

an idea crosses his mind, not for the first time, but it’s the first time he says it out loud.

“we could just run away, nobody would ever have to find us.”

jeno’s legs hit the back of the couch and renjun doesn’t hesitate to push him down and crawl on his lap, the warmth from thighs a sharp contrast from his hands. from above him, renjun smiles. maybe it’s just the lighting that causes the shadows to fall across his face or the bruise blooming under his eye, but jeno thinks this might be one of the rare times renjun has truly looked villainous to him. 

“we couldn’t. the world needs you jeno. who else is going to protect it from people like me?”

now it’s jeno’s turn to laugh. he runs his hands over renjun’s thighs, pressing at the insides of them where he knows renjun likes it. “ten, donghyuck, taemin, seulgi...just to name a few.”

renjun sighs before kissing jeno again, this time slower, with far too much care and emotion, pressing closer until they’re one being. jeno’s heart stirs from under renjun’s touch. it doesn’t take long for renjun to break away, leaning back slightly so he can run his hands through jeno’s hair. 

“i know. i  _ know _ . we just- it’s not that easy. i don’t have the option to get up and leave,” renjun says, not being able to make eye contact with the boy in front of him anymore. 

jeno takes one of renjun’s hands in his own and presses a kiss to the knuckles before trying to breathe some warmth back into it while his other runs up and down renjun’s side. “i could protect you.” 

renjun is uncharacteristically quiet, fidgeting around in jeno’s lap like he's struggling not to flee, before he speaks up again. “if you got hurt because of me i could never forgive myself.”

that causes jeno to laugh again. he pinches renjun’s side, earning a squawk from the other. “you literally broke my leg last year, you know that right?”

“that was nothing personal, babe. i was on the clock.”

jeno hums before pulling renjun back down, licking into his mouth with the same hungry energy as before. it’s funny, how fast renjun turns to putty under jeno’s hands, shedding his persona to give into the other. knowing how much renjun trusts him is enough to quench jeno’s heart in fire. this could end badly for either of them, for so many reasons, but it’s worth it. 

it’s so worth it. 

“in another world you could be mine,” jeno can’t stop himself from whispering as he bites at renjun’s earlobe before moving to suck just underneath his ear. it’s where he knows renjun is most sensitive from plenty of experience. licking over the spot for a moment, jeno goes back in with his teeth, intending to make a rather nasty mark - if he couldn’t tell the world renjun was his, he would just have to show them. 

renjun’s breath hitches as he bares his neck to jeno. “who says i’m not already?”

click. play. 

jeno’s standing on the stage, the roar from the fans is deafening, but the only thing he can hear is renjun’s laughter, clear as a bell, coming from beside him. 

jeno's heart bursts when the cannons do, confetti raining everywhere and jeno thinks he’s never been happier. joining sm entertainment, meeting the other trainees, debuting - it somehow all pales in comparison. nothing beats the rush of adrenaline and dopamine from getting to stand next to his members on stage and receive a physical reminder that all their literal blood, sweat, and tears have paid off. losing his childhood for his dream was worth it because they’ve  _ made _ it, they’ve proven it time and time again now. 

it’s no longer just a dream, but his reality. 

the rest of the night passes in a blur, some of their hyungs greet them backstage, congratulations are passed around, they hold a vlive to thank their fans, jeno’s mom calls. jeno is buzzing the whole ride home - jisung hasn’t stopped tearing up and chenle is on the phone with his parents and jaemin is chatting away excitedly with donghyuck and renjun won’t stop  _ grinning _ . jeno never wants this moment to end. 

it’s all so much that jeno excuses himself to his room almost immediately, eager to have a moment to himself. he’s laying on his bed feeling larger than life when a knock comes at the door. 

“hey,” renjun starts softly, poking his head through the door. his eyes are bright and full of life and jeno isn’t sure if it’s because the adrenaline hasn’t worn off yet, but he’s never wanted to kiss his friend more. he doesn’t move though. instead he just nods, letting renjun know he’s welcome to come in. 

jeno’s senses feel hyper aware as renjun comes to sit on his bed, choosing to push himself right up next to where jeno is sitting against the wall so they’re thigh to thigh, shoulder to shoulder. there’s still a smile on renjun’s face and jeno can’t get enough of this night.

“you were great today,” renjun offers honestly after a moment of silence and jeno feels like he’s glowing. not nearly as bright as renjun, but nobody could ever compete with him in jeno's eyes. 

“you too.” jeno’s heart is beating an erratic rhythm in his chest - he hasn’t had a chance to collect himself all night and it doesn’t feel like he’ll have the chance to now. the air is electric, filled with so much hope. he makes sure to turn and look at renjun, wanting to see the older’s reaction when he says, “you were amazing as always.”

to his delight, renjun flushes from the compliment, only meeting jeno’s gaze for a second before becoming shy and looking around the room. in the moment of confidence, jeno reaches over to flatten a stray piece of hair for renjun, taking longer than necessary to fix it as he works up the courage to speak up again. 

renjun beats him to it when he whispers jeno's name.

jeno taps on renjun’s chin, getting him to turn his head, making sure he has the attention of the other boy again. he has a slight inkling of where this is going, which makes his stomach twirl in anticipation. “yes?”

it’s obvious renjun is still shy by the blush high on his cheeks and the way he keeps twisting his hands, but he never breaks eye contact with jeno when he asks, “can i kiss you?”

“ _ please _ .”

much to his horror, jeno whines nearly the second renjun’s lips are on his. the angle is a little awkward from where they’re sitting, but jeno wastes no time in shifting to sit in front of renjun, curling his hands into the hair at the base of his neck and moving so their mouths line up better. 

the kiss is sweet, probably the best one jeno has had yet, or maybe that’s just because he’s kissing renjun. there's something so _familiar_ about it, its tearing jeno apart. it’s nothing more than a gentle press of lips, but jeno tries to pour as many of his feelings into it as possible, hoping renjun would get the idea.

“i’ve been wanting to do that for a while,” jeno mutters against renjun’s lips, loving the way he can feel the other smile from how close they still are. renjun hums in what jeno assumes is agreeance before leaning his forehead against jeno’s, taking several deep breaths. 

“not to sound dumb, but what does this make us?” renjun’s voice is quiet when it leaves his lips. his lips that are red and slightly swollen and shiny from jeno’s doing.  i t's intoxicating really, to know _ he _ made renjun look like that from just a simple kiss - a thrill runs through his body at the thought. 

“i’m honestly not sure,” jeno admits. he hadn’t really gotten that far in his plan yet. there were so many complications standing in their way, but jeno had a gut feeling that the fight would be worth it. “i really like you though, renjun. let’s just take things slow, hmm? we can figure things out as we go.”

“i like the sound of that.” renjun’s smile makes it up to his eyes where jeno can see the stars and he is so,  _ so _ charmed. renjun leans forward to place a kiss on both of jeno’s cheeks before shifting off the bed and holding out a hand to the other. “c’mon, let’s go celebrate, pretty boy. we deserve it.”

**Author's Note:**

> i was really struggling to write lately so i thought i would try something different than my usual style so i hope you enjoyed it and thank u so much for taking the time to read it <3 !! i'm actually quite pleased with the outcome, but let me know what you thought!!! it would mean the world to me :D 
> 
> i grew really attached to one section..i wonder if u can tell, but im hoping to revisit it in the future sometime
> 
> ok i think that's it for now stay healthy and take care of each other!
> 
> visit me on [twt](https://twitter.com/volcanomp3)!


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